6 Ways to Convince Customers to Buy

You'll sell more if you talk about your product using language your customer understands.

Customers never buy because of product features. They buy because they perceive some "benefit" to those features.

Unfortunately, most sales and marketing messages talk about features and let the customers try to figure out the benefits. That's asking your customer to do your heavy lifting for you.

You'll get more customers, more quickly, if you communicate the benefits of using your product rather than the features it possesses. Here are six rules for doing so, based upon a conversation with one of my favorite sales gurus, Barry Rhein:

1. Know the difference between a benefit and a feature.

A feature is something that a product or service "is" or "does." A benefit is something that the product or service "means" to the customer. For example:

Wrong: "This car has a reinforced safety roof." (feature)

Right: "This car keeps your family safe." (benefit)

2. Use vivid but plain language.

Customers will remember a benefit longer and more easily if it's expressed using simple, strong words that evoke emotion.

Wrong: "This roof provides protection in the event of a rollover accident."